A Berlin KPM porcelain fruit basket from the dessert service for Prince Karl von Hessen und bei Rhein
Round 'Französischer Korb' model fruit bowl decorated with a wreath of naturalistic flowers. Blue sceptre mark, red imperial orb mark. H 12.1, D 24.2 cm.
1836, model by Johann Carl Friedrich Riese, around 1820.
This basket comes from a dinner and dessert service that King Friedrich Wilhelm III presented as a wedding gift to his niece Princess Elisabeth of Prussia. The commission is recorded in the "Conto Buch Sr. Majestät des Königs" in the KPM archives in Potsdam. The entry on 7th November 1836 reads: "For his Highness Prince Carl of Hesse und bei Rhein on occasion of marriage to Princess Elisabeth v. Pr: Royal Highness".
The dessert service included eight French fruit baskets, including "3 to be moulded with lion's feet, with coloured flower garlands, gold ground inside, gold ground outside, at a price of 18 reichstaler and 10 silver groschen a piece".
Galerie Fischer in Lucerne offered 242 items from the dinner and dessert service for Princess Elisabeth of Prussia, the wedding present from King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia, at auction in July 1925 under the title "Works of art from the estate of the former ruling Princes and their families".
A very rare tambour dish from this service was offered in Lempertz Berlin auction 1150 on 25th April 2020 as lot 270.